For Reasons Unknown
by Yer Majesty
Summary: Reed is abducted and submitted to various tests by people unknown. They claim not to be the bad guys and are just trying to help him escape an even worse fate. Just who are they and what exactly do they want?
1. The Abduction

Chapter One  
The Abduction

_White light.  
Bright.  
So bright.  
Surrounding him.  
Choking him.  
Killing him...  
_  
Reed Richards awoke with a gasp, struggling for breath. He could've sworn...No. It was a dream. Nothing more. His throat ached and he automatically started to reach towards his bedside table only to find his arms restricted. This was odd. 

He stared into the darkness for a few minutes, waiting for his vision to adjust, blinking repeatedly when it didn't happen. Wait. Was that-? Was that _cloth_? His mind reeled. Pushing down panic, he managed to shake the cloth loose, letting out a pained gasp as light flooded his vision.

This wasn't home, that much was obvious. He was in a small room, no more than eight by ten feet, secured to a metal table situated directly in the center. There was a table beside him with multiple machines settled on top, an awry of wires stretching out. Wires, he soon realized, that were connected to him.

The rest of the room was bare, the white walls almost glowing with the intensity of the lights, and he grimaced. Talk about copying the movies. How much more unoriginal could you get? A door hidden in the wall to his left slid open and he watched as a woman came in, ignoring his presence as she wrote down the numbers the machine offered her.

Looking satisfied, she left the room, and he heard voices murmuring outside of the door. He heard footsteps fade, presumably the woman's, and a moment later a man entered. Despite the unknown situation, Reed bit back a laugh as he observed the man, who looked horribly cliché clad in a long white lab coat, the florescent lights less than kind when it came to the prominent bald spot in his graying hair. Making a few notes on his clipboard, he peered at Reed through a pair of wide rimmed spectacles, before making a few more quick jots on the clipboard.

"Ah. Dr. Richards. Finally awake, I see."

XXXXXXXX 

The Richards household seemed normal enough to any person passing by, set upon an acre of neatly trimmed grass, that of which was home to multiple children's toys scattered across it, ranging from dump trucks near the sandbox to the tricycles by the driveway. There were two cars in the driveway, a bucket overturned nearby suggesting that they were recently washed. Normal, indeed.

Until you met the inhabitants, that is.

Reed and Susan Richards. Half of the cities newest superheroes. The Fantastic Four. No one knew for sure just how they acquired their powers, only that it happened on a space mission gone wrong. But even that information was based on a rumor. Nobody had the courage to actually ask them.

But despite the fear people sometimes felt when coming across one of them, they simply adored their children. Two boys and one girl. You could always find them playing outside together if weather permitted.

The oldest, Joshua, was five years old, with dark brown hair and brown eyes. Following close behind at almost four years of age was their second son, Damian, who, unlike either of his parents, had a mess of blonde hair and green eyes. Their youngest child, and only girl, Amelia, was two years old, with dark auburn hair and an unusual shade of grey eyes, which neither of her parents had come across before.

The children were not currently in the yard, but if one were to listen closely enough they would be able to hear the tell-tale laughter of delight from inside the house.  
.  
.  
.  
"Uncle John! You're here!"

Johnny Storm laughed and caught his oldest nephew, picking him up and spinning him in a fast circle. "What's up squirt?"

"Don't call me that!"

"Whatever you say, squirt."

"Uncle John!"

"Johnny Storm, will you quit torturing my child and come give me a hug hello?"

"Torture? You call that torture? Sister Sue, I am ashamed of you."

"Why do insist on these ridiculous names?"

"Ah, you know you love 'em." He set down the now squirming child and embraced his sister. "Good morning."

"Good to see you finally. Where's Ben?"

"He decided to ditch me this morning. He and Alicia should be here soon." No sooner had he finished his sentence when there was a knock on the door. "Speaking of Pebbles..."

Susan gave him a look and went to open the door, admitting two of her closest friends. "Ben, Alicia, good to see you guys."

"Morning Susan. Where'd you stash the kids?"

"Johnny just scared off Joshua, and Damian and Amelia are both still sleeping."

"What'd he do, show the kid his face? That'd scare anybody."

"Funny, Pebbles."

"Ah, there's the burnout now."

"Now, boys, play nice. I'm sure Sue has enough on her hands without you two bickering."

"Yes, dear."

Susan and Alica walked ahead while the guys followed, Johnny laughing quietly with making whipping motions with his hands. Ben smirked. "At least I got a woman."

Johnny sneered and stopped walking. "Hey, Josh buddy, would you come here for a minute?"

Ben gave him a questioning look as the kid ran past him. "Yeah?"

"Uncle Ben wants to see the present I got for ya."

"Ok." Joshua ran back out of the room and Ben glared at Johnny. "It better not be what I think it is."

A few seconds later the young boy ran back in. "It's you, Uncle Ben! It has your voice and all!"

Ben stared in horror at the toy as his voice rang out through the house. "It's clobberin' time!"

XXXXXXXX  
  
Hello again, peoples. Just though I'd try my hand at F4. I needed a break from all my other works that seem to be going nowhere fast. Maybe this will work out, maybe it wont.

Anyway, If you guys see any mistakes or have any suggestions to fix it, don't be shy.

Until next time!


	2. The Man

It's only the first chapter and already I have unanswered questions. Lets see...  
1) Does the Thing figure in your story sound like the one in the first film?  
Yes, it's the same toy.  
2)Do the kids have powers of their own?  
We'll just have to wait and see, eh? (That's author talk for "I have no idea, I'm wingin' it")

Chapter Two  
The Man

Reed awoke with a slight start, instinct telling him he wasn't where he was supposed to be. A hand went up to cover his eyes, white lights bouncing upon white walls. He gave a small scowl, annoyance creeping up on him.

He was no longer in what he assumed was the examination room, now in a small room, plain and pristine, housing only the bed he sat upon. A mirror ran along the length of one wall, but he doubted it was for decorative purposes.

Most likely it was a two-way mirror, his captors situated on the other side, observing. Well he certainly wouldn't make it easy for them. He sat on the bed, his back against the wall, subtly searching the walls for signs of a door.

He could find none, seeing only a smooth surface of white, a color he was slowly beginning to hate. He was definitely painting his house when he got out of here. Wherever here was.

He was shaken from his thoughts when a piece of the wall slid into itself, revealing a doorway leading into a, unsurprisingly, white hallway. Funny, he looked over that wall at least a dozen times.

A couple seconds later, a man entered. A rather familiar man. It was the same man from the last time Reed awoke, still clad in his white lab coat, the clipboard firmly held in his hands. The man pushed his glasses up his nose, flipping up the top page of his files, making small noises as he read.

"Dr. Richards. It's a pleasure to see you again."

"Wish I could say the same."

"No need for hostility, Dr. Richards. No one here wishes you harm."

"Kind of hard to believe the man who is seemingly responsible for my abduction."

"We did what was necessary."

"We? Who's we? What do you want from me? Who are you?"

"My name is of no importance at this time. What is important is you, Reed."

"What are you talking about?"

"I need your help, Dr. Richards. My people need you help."

"Your people? I don't understand--"

"Everything will be explained in due time. Right now though, I simply need to run a few more tests just to be sure."

"Sure of what?"

"Soon, Dr. Richards. Soon"

And with a quick prick of a needle, Reed once again succumbed to darkness.

XXXXXXXX 

"You're paying for that, you know."

Johnny looked from the burnt pillow in his hands, to his sister, leaning in the doorway with her arms folded across her chest. Fidgeting slightly, he cast a look down to his nephew, standing beside him. A short shake of the head and a couple steps back told him his nephew was going to be no help. Crap.

"Uh, Susie, there's a perfectly good explanation for this."

"I'd love to hear it."

"Ah, you see, it all started when, uh, the squirrel, yeah the squirrel! There was a squirrel and it, uh, you see--Josh, buddy, you wanna help me out?"

"Me and Uncle John were watching a movie and we opened the window 'cuz it got hot and a squirrel came inside. It must have been rabid or something because it was going crazy and started running everywhere. It jumped at us and Uncle John panicked and tried to fry it and he got the pillow instead."

Susan shook her head clearly not believeing them. "Try again."

"But that's what happened."

"The TV's off."

Johnny looked behind him, seeing she was right. He could've sworn it was on. Double crap. He shrugged slightly, grasping the pillow tighter in both hands. "Like he said, the thing was going crazy. It managed to unplug the wires before it came at us."

"And where is this squirrel now?"

"It ran back outside?"

"Right. Johnny, stop teaching my kid to lie to me." She pushed off the doorway, heading towards the kitchen, calling over her shoulder. "I expect my new pillow by Tuesday."

"But that's tomorrow!" Johnny sighed and turned towards his nephew. "This is your fault, you know."

"What?"

"A squirrel, dude?!"

His nephew shrugged. "I saw something like that on TV this morning. It was all I could think of."

"Yeah, but a squirrel?!"

XXXXXXXX 

"A squirrel?"

Johnny walked into the kitchen, where Susan was preparing a stew for dinner. "Oh, give the kid a break. It was a good story. I would've bought it." Nicking a carrot, he hopped atop the counter,

"I swear he gets more like Reed everyday."

"Where is he by the way? I haven't seen him all day."

"I'm not sure. He was already gone when I got up."

"He didn't leave a note or anything?"

"No."

"Huh. Well that's weird."

"Yeah, he--" The phone rang, interrupting her. "Maybe that's him."

"Hello, Richards residence."

Johnny snickered and Susan threw him an exasperated look, mouthing for him to grow up.

"Good evening, may I please speak to a Mrs. Susan Richards please?"

"This is she."

"My name is Lt. Johnson; I'm with the New York Police Department."

"Is everything alright?"

"Mrs. Richards, we discovered a green SUV registered to your husband earlier this evening abandoned behind a local supermarket. There is some evidence pointing towards foul play. Have you heard from him lately?"

"N-no. He was gone early this morning. I figured he went to work early. Is-is he alright? Do you know anything?"

"I'm sorry, no. Mrs. Richards, when we found the car, there was no evidence telling us where he could be. Does your husband have any enemies that you know of? Anybody who could have a grudge against him at this time? An angry co-worker perhaps?"

"Not that I know of."

"If you think of any information that could be helpful or anybody who could possibly wish your husband harm, don't hesitate to call." There was a sigh at the other end of the line and a slight pause before the man spoke again. "I really am sorry, Mrs. Richards."

"Thank you." With shaking hands, Susan hung up the phone, sliding to the ground, her world falling with her.

XXXXXXXX 

Before anybody comments, yes, I know it's a crappy ending, and yes, I did indeed notice that I didn't write in what happened during the first time he awoke. I have plans to add it in a later chapter. I have no clue what I'm doing here really, but I decided to try something new. You know in the movie 21 Grams, how they kept switching from the present to the past throughout? ...Yeah, hopefully it'll turn out something like that. ...Maybe...

Anyway, if you see any mistakes or have any suggestions, don't be shy.

Until next time!


End file.
